Penguins of Madagascar: King Versus Emperor
by Neoraichu
Summary: New penguins are coming to the Central Park Zoo for the winter, and Skipper fears for unit cohesion and discipline. King Julien also may find himself in a new rivalry. Will a few hens ruffle the boys' feathers? thank you for your time and patience.
1. Chapter 1

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

As winter closed in upon the Central Park Zoo, there was a flurry of activity among the humans that Skipper could not explain. He didn't like situations he couldn't explain, because they were always considered a veiled threat in his book of Things He Didn't Know. It seemed that Kowalski, Rico and Private were equally in the dark about the new activities.

So Skipper called the soldiers to the lair to discuss strategy.

"All right, boys," announced Skipper, "something fishy is going on, and I don't think it's Rico's last meal. I'm sure those sneaky humans are up to something, and I won't rest until I find out what their little plan is!"

"I've been monitoring Alice's computer and the Central Park Zoo's e-mail," said Kowalski, "but there's no solid evidence of anything like a transfer in or out of the zoo. But there was a reference to having rare and endangered visitors over the winter. They refer to them as Kingly and Imperial."

"Kingly and Imperial?" asked Skipper, "What the heck does that mean?"

"Maybe it's some relative of King Julien," suggested Private.

"Don't even jest about such things, Private!" scolded Skipper, "The last thing we need around here is another royal pain in my gluteus maximus!"

"Arra awa ooh?" asked Rico.

"Rico!" scolded Skipper, "There's no need to talk like that in front of... _them_!" He waved his flipper at an open air space.

"Skipper?" asked Private, "What are you pointing at, and who are... _them_?"

"What?" asked Skipper as he looked around.

"Who are _them_?"

"I don't know," replied Skipper, "I just know that we're being _watched_."

"By who?"

"You know... _them_."

"What do you think this is, Skipper?" asked Kowalski, "A reality show with hidden cameras? A cartoon with corny writers?"

"Never mind," said Skipper, "It's... not important. Not now, anyway..."

"So we can get back to the problem at hand?" asked Private.

"That's an affirmative, Private," answered Skipper, "There must be someone in the zoo who knows what's going on, don't you think?"

"Isn't that _our_ job?" asked Kowalski.

"I know," replied Skipper, "I know. But this time, we don't seem to be up to the task, are we? You know how much I hate surprises, especially if they can blindside us."

"I'm sure that if it's important to the Central Park Zoo, we'll find out about it soon enough."

...

SOON ENOUGH later...

...

Skipper sat brooding in his lair when Rico rushed in excitedly.

"Wooo wadda wadda aaahhh," he muttered with great enthusiasm.

"Rico?" asked Skipper, "Just spit it up already man!"

So Rico coughed up a flier. Skipper looked it over. It appeared to be an official flier for the Central Park Zoo.

"Kowalski!" he called, "Front and center!"

The brainier penguin emerged from his workshop asking, "What is it, Skipper?"

"Rico coughed up a flier," he replied, "and I need you to tell me what it means. Get over here and take a look."

So Kowalski came over and looked.

"Interesting," he mused, "it looks like there's a temporary exhibit coming for the winter. It will contain exotic and rare... PENGUINS!"

"PENGUINS?" asked the Skipper, "Are you positive?"

"I've never been more sure," he replied.

"Well, why do they need more penguins?" he asked back, "Aren't we cute and cuddly enough for the masses?"

"Judging by this," mused Kowalski, "They capitalizing upon our popularity with more penguins."

"What kind of penguins are we talking about?"

"There's more than one species listed."

About then, Private appeared in the lair to complete the group.

"There you are," said Skipper, "there's more penguins coming to the Central Park Zoo and it's making me nervous."

"Do you think there will be hens?" asked Private.

"Hens?" moaned Skipper, "The last thing we need around here is hens to make you guys act like lovestruck pinheads!"

"Do you think we can't handle a few hens?" asked Private.

"Oh, I'm sure you will melt like butter when the first hot hen comes by," he replied, "and I'll be up to my beak in nests and eggs before I know it!"

"Don't sell us short, Skipper," replied Kowalski, "You've trained us to be professional at all times. I'm sure we can resist the wiles of a few hens until they leave."

"Well, Private is still young and impressionable," moaned Skipper, "and I wonder if he's got the will to resist his 'natural urges' like the rest of us."

"I'm right over here," said Private privately.

"Don't worry," said Kowalski, "I'm sure we can keep Private out of trouble until they leave."

"I'm counting on you and Rico to keep the honor of our unit in tact!" answered Skipper.

"I can hear everything you're saying," said Private more privately.

...

And thus did a great convoy of trucks come in the night, and left behind a great exhibition of pens and temporary shelters that were set up in the dark around the normal penguin exhibit. A dome was dropped over the open exhibit, and the entire structure was enclosed overnight. Around the edges of the great dome were several penguin exhibition rooms for the various penguins from around the world, and there was also a grand plaza added for the public to view the various species at various time with the ability to adjust the climate to each species being shown off.

Since it was winter, the colder climate penguins could also be taken outside where even more zoo patrons could see them. They merely needed a large water tank and an artificial iceberg to represent the Antarctic Ocean climate.

And thus did Skipper and the boys have to use longer and older tunnels in order to get out for their various missions while the new penguins were around.


	2. Chapter 2

Penguins of Madagascar: Part 2

King Versus Emperor

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

And this did Skipper and the boys find themselves surrounded by strange penguins of various breeds and stripes the next morning. Even in the central area common to all of the displays, there was still fences that kept the various penguin species separate from each other physically, but not verbally isolated from each other.

The sign over their section of the display read as 'Adele Penguin (_Pygoscelis Adelaide_)'. There was a cute little picture of both a male and hen of the species included upon the sign as well.

"Well," mused Skipper, "So that's what a hen from my species is supposed to look like. It's been so long since I've seen one, I was beginning to think I completely forgot."

He glanced over to the next pen area and the next sign that read 'Chinstrap Penguin (_Pygoscelis antarcticus_)'.

In there area, there was two males and two hens who seemed to be happy keeping themselves segregated by their genders.

On the other side of the Adele pen was a sign that read 'Gentoo Penguin (_Pygoscelis papua_)'.

In there area, there was three males and one hen, and the males were all pursuing the hen to gain her attention. Each one had made a rock nest and was using it to attempt the hen into letting them mate with her and use their nest to let the male incubate the eggs for her.

Personally, Skipper thought their display was shamefully submissive and hoped that none of his boys would behave so.

Beyond the Chinstraps lay the sign that read 'Humboldt Penguin (_Spheniscus humboldti_)', which oddly enough was visible from Skipper's side of the pen as well as the outside, and yet Skipper had to wonder why the sign could be seen from his vantage point. The sign further identified those penguins as the most endangered penguin species in the world.

He could see one male and one hen, and it appeared that he was already sitting on a nest with eggs in it.

Beyond the Gentoo lay another pen with a sign that read 'Royal Penguin (_Eudyptes schlegeli_)'.

That pen had multiple males, about a half dozen or so, but Skipper couldn't see any hens from his perspective.

The last display furthest away from Skipper's pen was a sign that read 'Emperor Penguin (_Aptenodytes forsteri_)'.

There was but one male and one hen over there, and they were indeed the largest penguins that Skipper had ever seen in his life. The male carried himself about like he owned everything he saw, and Skipper couldn't help gut smirk when he thought about how the Emperor Penguin was going to get along, or not get along, with King Julien.

Skipper and the boys spent a few hours checking out the other penguins, both males and hens, in the various pens around them.

"Just look at those weak excuses for men," chided Skipper, "That's what hens do to you. They make you act like lovestruck idiots. I would never spend so much time and effort getting a hen's attention, boys. I'm more dignified than that."

"It's pretty safe to talk like that when there's no hens of our species about," replied Kowalski, "but I think you'd be talking differently if there was a hot Adele hen in here with us."

"Hah," scoffed Skipper, "I wonder if you really know me if you can talk like that, Kowalski."

"Oh, I think I know a few things about how you really are, Skipper," answered Kowalski.

"Roo awa roo wadda," added Rico.

"Are you taking his side, Rico?" asked Skipper.

"Roa..." he replied.

"I think he's agreeing with me, Skipper," smirked Kowalski.

"You're just jealous that I have so much more iron will than you," scolded Skipper, "I don't care if the hottest Adele hen in the world waltzed in here right now, I couldn't care less."

Just then, the door to the outside opened and the hottest Adele hen in the world waltzed into the pen with the boys. Their collective jaws fell to the floor as they stared at her.

"Hi boys," she said with a wink, "I'm called W.A.V.E. I don't know exactly what that means, but I know I was found by a human navy crew after surviving a shark attack. I can't really remember anything before the attack, but I've been told I'm not missing anything back in the frozen Arctic."

Skipper shook his head and said, "Hello. Welcome to our little corner of the world."

He took turns introducing the boys as he pointed at them one after another, "This here is Private, that there is Rico, that one over there is Kowalski, and I am your humble Skipper." She bowed to each boy in turn and then finally to Skipper.

"It's really nice to meet you all," she said, "I don't know how long we're going to be here. I've been traveling with the others for quite some time, and I've felt a bit lonely being the only Adele."

"Well, me and the boys will certainly do our very best to make you feel welcome here, WAVE."

As the head male, he was the first to walk over and greet WAVE. She responded to his greeting with a warm flipper hug.

"Well that didn't last very long," muttered Kowalski.

"What was that?" asked Skipper.

"Nothing Skipper. Nothing at all."

After Skipper greeted WAVE, the other boys moved in to meet her as well. She hugged each one in turn, and no one seemed to mind the attention that they were given.

"Would you like to see the lair?" asked Private.

"A lair?" she asked back.

"Private!" barked the Skipper.

"Well," he replied, "we can't let her sleep alone out here in the cold, can we?"

"That's alright," she replied, "I'm used..."

"No," interrupted Private, "I would feel bad if I were sleeping better than you. You have to see the lair. That's all right, ain't it Skipper?"

"All right already," harrumphed Skipper, "You can let her use your bunk if you feel that strongly about it. I'm sure we have a sleeping bag for the floor."

"You don't really have to put yourself out like that," said WAVE.

"It's not a problem," replied Private, "It's my pleasure in fact."

So the boys led WAVE underground to show her the bunk room.

"Wow," she sighed, "I've never seen the likes of this. This is AWESOME."

"That's Private's bunk over there," said Skipper as he pointed, "I'm the boys will be on their best behavior as long as you're here, RIGHT BOYS?"

"Absolutely," said Kowalski.

"Rar," said Rico.

"Nothing else," said Private.

"I'll try to stay our of your way as long as I'm here," said WAVE.

"It's too late for that," muttered Kowalski.

"What was that?" asked Skipper.

"Nothing Skipper. Nothing at all."


	3. Chapter 3

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Meanwhile, King Julien and his minions were busy appraising their new neighbors.

"Oh how can dey be worthy of a new place to be hanging out when I the King Julien am getting nuthing of newness?" moaned King Julien in his Julien sort of way.

"Oh Julien," moaned Maurice, "It's only temporary. It's a penguin tour."

"Still, even temporariness is bettering than the neverness. I should be being shown the better respect than da penguins. They aren't even da Kings likening myself."

"You are the bestest and onlyiest for me," sighed Mort in his fawning sycophantic sort of way.

Maurice ignored Mort as he pretty much normally did. "Well, your majesty," he said, "There are in fact Emperor and Royal Penguins in the traveling exhibit."

"Emperor? Royal?" asked Julien, "Is dat like being da King?"

"Not to me," said Mort.

Ignoring Mort, Maurice said, "I know they're rulers like a King, but I have no idea how much they are like or unlike Kings."

"Well then dey cannot be as Kingly as me, King Julien," said King Julien, "I must go forth and assert my royal regal Kingless over their lowly peguinessesses."

"You wouldn't want to go in there," he replied, "It's freezing cold in there, even compared to being out here. I've heard that they're going to bring the penguins out in groups to be displayed to the zoo goers."

"Dey will _see_ the King Julien _when_ the King Julien _will_ be wanting to be seeing of them," said the King.

"Do you want me to bring them to you?" asked Mort.

"Ah yes, my loyal subject Mort," said the King finally paying attention to the small furry minion, "Your King would me most agreeable and appreciatinging of that which you could be doing for me, da King."

"This should be good," sighed Maurice as he rolled his eyes.

"I am, as they are saying, on the case," said Mort cheerfully.

"You are on the case of what?" asked Julien.

"I do not know," said Mort, "It seemed like the thing to say. Maybe I am on the case of... floor?"

"Mort Mort Mort," sighed Julien, "Be leaving of the thinking to your King and leave the doing of what you are told to the Morts."

"Okay," said Mort agreeably.

"And perhaps later shall come the royal caressing of da royal feets?"

"I am always ready for the royal caressing of the royal feeeeeeeeeets."

"Of course you are," smirked Julien.

"As long as it's not me," muttered Maurice.

...

"Now I know you're new here, WAVE, and you are an attractive hen," said Skipper with one flipper on WAVE's shoulder, "but nothing is changing around here because you're around. These are professional soldiers who place they duties above and beyond their personal needs. There will be no molly-coddling or special treatment on your behalf. Am I making myself clear... uh... sailor?"

"Yes sir," said WAVE, "I completely understand you sir."

"Then it looks like the time we are going to spend together is going to go well."

He then noticed that WAVE was looking past him.

"Is there something wrong, sailor?"

"Well, I've never seen mating nests assembled so quickly."

"Say what?" The Skipper spun around to find that three mating nests had magically materialized out of nowhere.

"What is the meaning of this men?" barked Skipper, "I thought we went over this!"

"Wow," she mused, "They are so... creative."

Kowalski stood over a nest made of spare cables, wires, Christmas tree light strings, and a few other odds and sods from his pile of spare parts. The bed of the nest was lined with packing peanuts from a shipping box. Even the lights were blinking in sequence.

Rico's nest was made from his favorite thing: stuff that went 'boom-boom!' There was old-fashioned fuse cord, det-cord, dynamite, blocks of C-4 and C-12, a variety of rockets and apparently an inert land mine or two. The nest was lined with a nest made of molded C-12.

Private's nest was made of stuffed unicorns and stuffed little pony figures. Skipper never knew that Private had so many of those things. They were all held together with silk cord. There was nothing special lining the nest other than the stuffed animals themselves.

Each one of the men was looking towards WAVE for some sign of her approval. She appraised each nest, beginning with Kowalski, then Rico and finally Private.

"Oh come on," moaned Skipper, "We have valuable missions to perform. There's no time for this unabashed and unashamed pandering."

"Actually," sighed Kowalski, "There are no missions right now."

"That doesn't mean there could be a mission any time now," sighed Skipper.

"I'm real sorry if I am causing disruptions," sighed WAVE.

"Oh don't blame yourself sailor," said Skipper, "I suppose I have underestimated the mating urges of otherwise trained soldiers. I should have trained them better."

"So how do you evaluate my efforts?" asked Kowalski.

"Well," replied WAVE, "You do have an uncomfortable number of electrically powered devices in there. There seems to be about a 51.33 percent of terminal electrocution by virtue of the act of getting in or our of it. I also sort of question the wisdom of putting a one giga-watt high energy laser pointed at the place I'm most likely to have you sitting on the eggs. No one really knows the effects of electo-magnetism upon penguin eggs, so I'd have to remove the magnetic coils as well. I would have to question the safety of leaving chicks in your nest."

"Oh goodness," sighed Kowalski, "How could I have overlooked such basic consideration?"

"Rico roo rada nest?" asked Rico.

"Well," replied WAVE, "You do have an uncomfortable number of high-explosive structures of varying degrees of stability and safety. I would be rather uncomfortable leaving chicks in... an ammo bunker like that. I see at least five common or plausible scenarios that would cause a chain explosion and take down the entire lair. I'm sure that that would not do at all."

"No like boom-boom?"

"While I'm all for gratuitous explosions, it's not the kind of place I would want to leave chicks. I'm terribly sorry, Mister Rico."

"Why are you acting so smug, Private?" asked Skipper.

"Nothing Skipper," he replied.

"Well of all the efforts I've seen so far," replied WAVE as she walked about his offering, "Yours is certainly the softest and most comfortable. It also appears to be the safest nest I've yet seen for as many chicks as I would expect to lay. I'm not sure what all these creatures are supposed to be, but they do seem to be safe and lacking in dangerous qualities. I must say this is the most impressive piece of work I've seen to date."

WAVE walked around again to walk up to Private, granting him a small kiss upon his cheek. He immediately went red in the face and wavered as if to faint.

"Is Private sick?" asked Skipper.

"No," replied Kowalski, "just easily embarrassed."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry," replied WAVE with a blush of her own.

"He's not," muttered Kowalski under his breath.

"This is the kind of distraction that we do not need," moaned Skipper. "Besides," he added under his breath, "I could probably do better in my sleep."

"Are you implying you're going a make a nest, Skipper?" asked Kowalski.

"What?" asked Skipper, "I don't have that kind of time for this kind of foolishness."

"Then why are you giving Private the hairy eyeball?"

"What?" asked Skipper, "You're all imagining things men. I will not ever compete with my men for the attention of some hen!"

"Are you... uh..." asked WAVE awkwardly, "are you... not... attracted to hens?"

"WHAT?" asked Skipper, "I said I don't have time for hens and eggs, and that's all. Don't read anything else into it."

"Yeah," said Private, "Skipper is a stand up kind of guy."

"I'm sorry if I misunderstood," said WAVE softly, "I'm not trying to be any trouble."

"It's okay," said Skipper, "I'm sure it was an honest mistake. I'm sure it won't happen again."

"Oh, thank you," replied WAVE, "I'm not here to be a bother. Perhaps it would be best to recycle these so there won't be any more... temptations."

"Yes," replied Skipper, "That's a very good idea. We don't need any electrocutions, laser blasting or boom-boom. Recycle all of this stuff right away!.. Especially all the fuzzy stuff, Private... I mean really, where were you keeping all this stuff?"

"Oh it's just odds and sods I've kept in the back of my footlocker, Skipper."

"I should inspect the lockers more closely."

"Please don't be angry Skipper," said WAVE in Private's defense, "I think they're cute. I don't really have anything like them."

"But not standard issue for this unit," replied Skipper, "Why don't you _donate_ some of those to WAVE, who I think would need them more than you, _right soldier_?"

"Oh sure," said Private.

"If it wouldn't be a bother," replied WAVE softly.

"Oh it would be a great pleasure for me."


	4. Chapter 4

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

As his men disassembled their mating nest offerings, Skipper noticed that WAVE was looking over Private a little more closely than he was comfortable with. She didn't make it obvious to the others, but not subtle enough to avoid the Skipper's trained gaze. It was his softy and fuzzy nest offering that she obviously most impressed by. He was pretty confident that the young and relatively innocent Private was completely oblivious to her look over.

"Look men," he announced officiously, "I think we need a security sweep of the entire zoo tonight. We're overdue for one."

"Can I help in some way?" asked WAVE.

"Sorry sailor," replied Skipper, "but I don't think the other zoo animals would trust a strange new penguin if they saw us on patrol. I think it would be best if you stayed upstairs and look out for zoo keepers or other interlopers while we check out the rest of the zoo. But don't stay up too late. Feel free to retire to Private's bunk whenever you feel the need to."

"Thank you," replied WAVE, "You've all been very kind and considerate, and it's something I'll be sure to remember for a long time."

"Don't think anything of it," said Private.

"Enough gibber-jabber, men," scolded the Skipper, "Let's get topside."

Kowakski, Rico and Private nodded as they headed towards the secret exit tunnel.

"Nothing personal, WAVE," said Skipper, "but I'd like you to stand over in that corner," as he pointed, "for at least 60 seconds. This is something unauthorized personnel should not see."

"Of course, Skipper," said WAVE as she went where she was told, "I completely understand security procedures and why they should never be violated."

Skipper, however, couldn't help but notice the '_I'm sorry we're treating you like this_' look that he gave to WAVE before going up the secret exit tunnel, and he was pretty sure that she saw his look as well as he did. Being the last one out the exit, he looked back to make sure that WAVE had not peeked, and was reasonably sure that she was no where near peeking.

Once the door was closed, Skipped stopped his men, speaking to him in a tone different than the one he just used inside. It was much more somber.

"Just remember, men, that WAVE is here on temporary leave. She will soon be gone, and I swear there will be no eggs or chicks left behind_, so no more flirting with WAVE. No more wooing with mating nests_. _Do I make myself perfectly clear_?"

"Crystal clear," said Kowalaki.

"Cyson creer," said Rico, which Skipper also took for 'crystal clear'.

"I understand orders," said Private.

"I am sensing some hesitation in your response, Private," said the Skipper, "Explain yourself."

"Well, I think we should show WAVE a little more professional courtesy is all."

"Explain."

"Well, she did seem to know a fair amount of electronics and explosives," said Private, "I think that Navy ship that found her did more than just fix her up."

"So you think she really has Navy Training?"

"I think so. I think she just didn't want to brag about it."

"Well, I doubt it would not hurt to ask her about that when we get back," said Kowalski.

"That's a good idea," said Skipper, "because I would like to know for sure if she's a trained sailor, or just honorary, myself. That was a good job of observation, Private, and here I thought you were all too busy making mating nests to notice such details about her."

"Thanks Skipper," replied Private.

"Did you bring us in here to order us not to flirt with WAVE?" asked Kowakski, "To talk to us in a place she can't overhear you?"

"I have to admit that was one reason, yes," said Skipper bluntly, "We know nothing about her, so her presence here is a security risk I cannot let go unchecked."

"I don't think it's as bad as all that," said Private.

"I'd like to think so too, Private," said Skipper, "but it's better to be safe then sorry. Alright men, let's move out."

...

A couple of hours passed by as Skipper and the boys made sure that the entire zoo was secure. Most animals were completely unaware of the Penguins' patrol efforts. Of course, most animals were asleep, except for the party animals in the lemur exhibit, who were notorious for partying and dancing late into the night, and keeping some of the nearby animals from sleeping properly.

Skipper swore to lodge yet another pointless complaint about King Julien's activities at the next meeting. The other animals seemed to be much more tolerant of Julien's activities, as of course, they just didn't know the egoistical self-absorbed jerk that Julien was as well as the Skipper did.

But then Skipper and the boys noticed that two of the Emperor Penguins were out of their pens admiring the night sky, and yet still within the enclosed area provided for the various species of new penguins. Skipper wondered if the temporary shelter was built to give them the same level of access, as he suddenly realized that neither he nor his men had even bothered to check for it.

The Emperor Penguins, one a regal male and another a regal hen, were in fact the largest Penguins the Skipper had ever seen in person. Even in standing still, it just looked like they were the lords and masters of all they surveyed, except perhaps for the stars and the moon themselves.

What surprised Skipper, however, was the point that the male turned to the hen, and said, "Look dear, there are Penguins out there secretly admiring us from outside the enclosed area. I think they must be too shy to come out and admire us directly." However, he made no indication of what direction he thought they were being seen from, so Skipper wondered just how well or many of Skipper and the boys that he had noticed watching them.

Skipper gave the flipper sign to fall back and hide to his men, hoping that the Emperor Penguins would assume that they only imagined their 'penguin admirers' and not make a fuss about it the next day.

There was no more audible statements from the Emperor Penguins, so Skipper was pretty sure that his they hadn't been seen any further.

There were no other notable incidents after that, so the Skipper and the boys retired to their lair at about 3 am in the morning, and they were all quite pleased that WAVE was sound asleep with a cuddly stuffed unicorn that Private 'accidentally' left out for her. Private laid out a bedroll out far enough from the bunks that he shouldn't have been stepped on by a Penguin making an early morning potty break or other necessity.

Skipper wasn't entirely confortable with the way Private was looking at the sleeping WAVE, but he was too tired and it was too early in the morning for another talking to, so he let it slip by this time as he crawled into bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 5

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

The Skipper awoke in the morning to find an unacceptable situation in progress. Some time during the night, Private had got up to do something, and somehow crawled back into his own bunk to be nestled beside WAVE and her stuffed unicorn. He was facing her back, cuddling WAVE not unlike the way WAVE was cuddling the unicorn.

"Private!" he yelled, "What in the name of Bunker Hill do you think you're doing?"

Private and WAVE suddenly awoke at the same time.

"AH!" screeched Private as he realized the position he was in, causing himself to fall out of the bunk in the process of backing away from WAVE.

Skipper stared down at the horrified Private as he said, "Explain yourself soldier!"

"I don't know how this happened," pleaded Private, "I swear I don't."

Kowalski looked over the edge of his own bed as he said, "Well, I'd never expect Private to take the initiative like this."

"Horn dog," growled Rico psychotically.

"I swear," said Private looking about, "It's not what it looks like."

"Enough with the swearing, Private," scolded Skipper, "There is a lady present you know."

"If you must blame someone," said WAVE, "blame me. I'm the one who's disrupted your normal routines."

"That's a generous offer," said Skipper, "but my men are supposed to act professionally at all times. We must not give into temptations. We have to adapt to all adversities. Private should have known better. He should have had more control."

"I'm so sorry, everyone."

"We'll discuss your discipline later, Private."

"Maybe we should test WAVE to make sure nothing happened between them other than superficial contact," suggested Kowalski.

"Roo rada roo raaAAAhhaaa..." said Rico.

"Sleep mating?" asked Private horrified, "Is that even possible?"

"Well, I don't think that Private has any history of sleep walking or other nocturnal uncontrolled activities. It seems that sleep mating would be quite unlikely, especially given that WAVE did not wake up for it."

Private seemed to be vastly relieved at that point.

"So apparently no harm's been done," said Skipper sternly, "but this is something we can not allow to happen again."

"I understand, Skipper," said WAVE, "I'm sure there's somewhere else I can..."

"I will have none of that kind of talk, Sailor," said Skipper cutting her off, "I am not blaming you for any of this. I'm sure Kowalski will think of an adequate measure to make sure the Private does not come to be in such a compromising position again, right Kowalski?"

"I'm sure that something can be arranged and built by noon," advised Kowalski.

"Good, because no guest of mine is going to be abused on my watch. I shall treat every hen with all the respect I can muster. Well, now that we're all up, I'm sure we can get on with the daily scheduled morning exercises."

"May I join you?" asked WAVE.

"Certainly. You're fully welcome to work out with us. I'm sure we can function in spite of any potential distraction you might inadvertently present."

"You certainly are in tune with your men, Skipper," said WAVE happily, "I wish all command staff was as good as you."

"Just doing my job as any good soldier would."

Skipper went to the ladder and started the climb up to the surface.

...

Meanwhile, the Emperor Penguins were also up and about. They were outside in the pen appreciating what they could see of the sunrise.

"This is most disappointing," said the Emperor, "the buildings are obstructing the best view. I am most displeased."

"I imagine that higher level living arrangements were not available for us, my dear," said the Empress.

"There must be a higher vantage point established so that we may be admired and acknowledged more readily by our human subjects."

"Perhaps the other animals could assist us in that endeavor, dear."

"That is wise, my sweet. We must arrange it so we can speak to the other animals. Perhaps they haven't come to acknowledge us if they have not been properly informed about our presence. I am sure they would never insult us by ignoring our regal presence."

"I am sure that that must be the case, dear."

"One of our retainers has informed us that there is one here who is a king."

"We must speak to this one, and make them understand that they must bow to us. We must collect tribute from this king, most certainly. What is the name of this king?"

"That is not known, dear, but the belief is that this king is a lemur."

"A lemur king? How curious. Perhaps he came here from the African continent. He must not be much of a king if he was captured and brought here."

"Perhaps he came voluntarily. It does seem this zoo would be superior to the jungles of Africa."

"A most astute observation, my sweet."

...

Meanwhile, the penguins had gone topside to engage in exercise. It was decided by the Skipper that they would start out with a set of pushups. WAVE seemed displeased with her performance, causing her to say, "I'm used to doing this with weights. Private, sweetie, would you be a dear and climb on my back. I need the extra weight."

Skipper appeared horrified when he glanced over, and saw Private laying face down on WAVE's back as she did her one flipper pushups, switching flippers with every twenty reps.

"Ah," said WAVE, "That's much better. Thank you, Private, for the assistance."

"**Private!**" barked the Skipper, "**What in the name of Sam Hill do you think you're doing?**"

"WAVE asked me to act as dead weight for her pushups."

"Well turn over," he scolded, "I don't want any _mating temptations_!"

"Sorry Skipper," replied Private as he rolled over, now leaving the two of them back to back, "I hope I haven't offended you in any way, WAVE."

"No," she replied, "I feel it's my fault for putting you in this position. I... just knew that you... are too much of a gentle-penguin to try anything."

"Thank you," said Private, "Coming from you, that means a lot to me."

Skipper was pretty sure he saw a blush in the face of WAVE. "Why don't any of you use each other as pushup weights?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure you're the only one of the boys who's strong enough to even try it," mused Kowalski.

"I think I must not be working you 'ladies' hard enough then," scolded Skipper, "You're being shown up by a hen, after all."

"I didn't realize we were competing with them," said Private.

"We aren't," said Skipper, "but still WAVE has set a new benchmark for us. A new goal for us to aim for."

"Well WAVE certainly is a fit one," said Private admiringly.

"Thank you," replied WAVE, "I'm sure that's a good compliment coming from you."

"I always try to be honest," said Private back.

"If not a little naive," muttered Kowalski under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Skipper.

"I said 'It's a nice day to be alive'," replied the brainy penguin.


	6. Chapter 6

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 6

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

So while the penguin exhibit people were busy, the Emperor Penguins left the habitat in search of the Lemur King they had heard about. While it was still fairly early in the morning, the zoo had not officially opened as of yet, and therefore there was no sight seers to see them either. In fact, even the ever alert if not paranoid Skipper and his boys had not noticed the departure during their morning exercises as well, being slightly distracted by the interaction of Private and WAVE.

However, because of their unfamiliarity with the Central Park Zoo, they wound up at the Asian Otter Exhibit instead. So the two of them hopped up on the wall in search of Lemurs, but instead gazed upon Marlene who had come out to absorb the morning rays of the sun.

"Excuse me, gentle creature," said the Empress, "but we are looking for the Lemur King of this zoo."

"Oh good morning," said Marlene cheerily, "Lemur King? You must be looking for King Julien. He's in the Lemur Exhibit. You're from the Penguin Exhibit, right? That's west of the Penguin Exhibit instead of north of there, where you are now."

"Excellent," said the Emperor, "We appreciate your assistance. However, the need to collect tribute from this... King Julien supersedes your own. We are sure you will bring tribute in proper time."

"Tribute?" asked Marlene, "I suppose I can bring something. I don't want to disrespect your customs, after all."

But the Emperor Penguins had already moved on by the time Marlene had finished saying that, leaving Marlene to scratch her head while she looked at where they were.

The two penguins hopped up onto the wall of the Lemur Exhibit, noting that the Lemurs were still sleeping. They were not aware of how late the Lemurs had stayed up partying, as one of the features of the temporarily expanded Penguin Exhibit was some soundproofing.

King Julien, Maurice and Mort were rudely awakened when the Emperor called out, "WHICH AMONG YOU IS THE ONE CALLED LEMUR KING!"

"Maurice?" asked Julien in a half-awake slurred speech, "Which of us is being called the Lemur King?"

"I think he means you, your majesty," replied Maurice in a similar half-awake tone.

Julien stood to face the penguins, and replied "Well according to my sources, I am being the Lemur King. Who addresses... my goodness, what big penguins you are."

"I am the Emperor Penguin," he replied, "and I am here to discuss your tribute to my greatness."

"I am a King," replied Julien, "I owe tribute to no one."

"You are _merely_ a King," he answered, "while I am an Emperor. You are obviously unaware that an Emperor is a ruler of Kings, and therefore that makes you inferior to myself. It is only proper that you offer tribute to your superior as so many before you have done."

"Maurice! How can such a thing as this has happened unto me! How can there being a higher authority than myself!"

"Because we've never had an Emperor before," he replied, "I barely knew what one was before this penguin showed up and told us."

"I am very disappointing in you, Maurice! I am commanding you to find out how to elevating me to this new status! I am deserving to be an Emperor if anyone is doing!"

The Emperor laughed, saying, "The only way to become an Emperor is to forge an Empire! A lowly creature such as you could never forge an Empire!"

King Julien looked at the Emperor before turning back to Maurice as he shouted, "Maurice! I am commanding you to be forging me an Empire at once!"

Maurice shrugged, saying, "I have _no_ idea how you do that, your majesty."

"I will forge an Empire for the Royal Feets," offered Mort helpfully.

"_You_ know how to forge an Empire?" asked Maurice and Julien as one. They then glanced at each other.

"I am sure that the Skipper or the Kowalski must know how an Empire is forged," replied Mort, "One of them will tell me what to do."

The Emperor laughed again, saying, "They are mere Adelies. They know not of the ways of Empire forging."

"Adelies? I thought they were Penguins."

"He must be the court fool," said the Emperor on an aside to the Empress.


	7. Chapter 7

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 7

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Meanwhile, back with the Skipper, WAVE and the boys: The four penguins had finished up their morning exercises. The boys were rather impressed with WAVE's physical prowess, as she had not only done push-ups with Private on her back (more than 250 reps) and alternating on one flipper as well, she bench pressed Private, leg pressed Private (over 200 times in a row), fireman carried Private for about 3 miles (running in circles, to be more accurate. The penguin exhibit's outer area was not all that big), and finished up by juggling Private, Rico and Kowalski for about 3 minutes. Private had about the most passive work out of his life, all things told.

"Oh yeah," announced WAVE, "I felt the burn. You guys are so helpful."

"We are nothing if gentlepenguins," replied Skipper, "I drill that into my men if nothing else."

"And you've done an excellent job of that," said WAVE, "I couldn't ask for more respectable associates than these."

"Well," replied Skipper, "I do my best. But your presence demonstrates to me that I've been soft on my men. I need to push them harder to achieve greater prowess, like you."

"I hope I'm not causing trouble."

"Pish-posh, Sailor. Nothing of the sort. You've simply shown us how much better we can do. How much higher of a target that we should have always been aiming for."

"I'm glad, because I can honestly say I do like all of you very much. If I could stay any where I wanted to, I'd surely want to stay here with you."

"Well, I'm truly flattered by how highly you think of me and the men. I'm sure that's high praise from someone as well versed and trained as you."

WAVE said nothing, but did blush slightly at the Skipper's praise.

"It's about time for the pre-opening patrol, Skipper," said Kowalski.

"Thank you for the reminder, Captain Obvious," said the Skipper, "We need to retire to the lair. I'm sorry you can't come with us, Sailor, but you are aware of the situation here."

WAVE nodded as she replied, "I am, and I don't want to disrupt your routines. I'll just stand in the corner until you leave so I won't notice your secret exit."

Skipper opened the hatch and gestured as he said, "Hens first."

"Thank you," she replied quietly as she went in first.

...

Meanwhile, the conversation between King Julien and the Emperor Penguin continued. Maurice and Mort continued to stand at the King's side while the Empress stood at the Emperor's side.

"Well I am not to be caring if you are ruling Kings," sniffed Julien, "as you are not to be ruling _this King_. Therefore, I am not seeing a neediness to be giving of the Tribute unto you."

"You should reconsider, Lemur King," said the Emperor evenly, "I have broken much stronger and powerful Kings than you. In the long term, you'll suffer a lot less if you simply understand your place and pay the proper tribute."

"Is that being _a threat _that you are making at me?" asked Julien.

"Yes."

"Maurice, your King demands you are to be protecting his honors."

"That's like the biggest penguin in the world, your Majesty," replied Maurice, "I am _not_ messing with the likes of him."

"Mort, your King demands you are to be protecting his royal feets."

"YES!" Mort answered, "I shall be protecting the _royal feets_!" He leaped at the Emperor and was met somewhere in mid air with a sweeping strike of his flipper. The smallish Mort was last seen heading in a high arc in the approximate direction of the Otter Habitat.

"Your men are small and weak," snarled the Emperor, "like you. One of them won't fight, and the other is gone. Unless you're willing to fight for yourself, I suggest you surrender now."

"Oh, Mort and Maurice may well be my minions," chuckled the King, "but they aren't the ones who normally fight for me."

"Oh?" he replied, "And what fool fights for you?"

"They call him... the Skipper."

"A _Penguin_ fights for you?"

"Yes, the Skipper and their ilk are always foolishly noble... gullible... inclinated... _persuadable_ enough to fight for me."

"No mere Adelie is a match for me. Once I've dealt with them, one way or the other, I'll come back to deal with the likes of _you_. It is most advisable that you have my Tribute ready if _you don't want a most __**undignified beating**_."

"Yeah yeah yeah," said Julien smugly, "I'm sure that the psychotic and super-violent Skipper and his men will leave you as the one being is begging for _my mercies_."

"Do not hold your breath. I have never been beaten by anyone, even Leopard Seals. If this Skipper can not be reasoned with, he and his men are going down. Then you are next, Lemur King."

As the Emperor and Empress left, Julien looked nervous as he turned to Maurice and asked, "Skipper can handle them, can't he?"

"I have no idea, your Majesty. While I have a fairly good idea of what Skipper has, I have no idea what that Emperor guy has going for him."

"The Skipper had better not be failing me."

"Or what?"

"I shall be thinking of something! Maurice, be thinking of something! Your Majesty commands!"

"Whatever..."

"What?"

"Nothing..."

...

Meanwhile, the Skipper and the boys began their pre-opening patrol by stopping by the Otter Habitat. Marlene was already up and about as she was normally inclined to do.

"Good morning, Marlene," said the Skipper amiably, "anything unusual to report this morning?"

"Well, that Emperor Penguin guy stopped by and asked directions to see the Lemur King. Does that count?"

"Yes, Marlene. Yes, it does. Did he say anything about the reason he wanted this intel?"

"No, he didn't."

About then, Mort seemed to come out of no where and landed in a head-to-head collision with Marlene, leaving them both sprawled inside her habitat.

"I didn't see that coming," muttered Kowalski.

"I don't think any of us saw that coming," replied Skipper.

"Roo waba roo..." started Rico.

"Well it's a little late to claim that now," interrupted Skipper.

Private had rushed to Marlene's side as the Skipper made his way over to Mort.

"Marlene," said Private, "Are you alright? Speak to me!"

"Oh..." moaned Marlene, "What was the number of that seafood truck?"

"It wasn't a seafood truck," said Private in his earnest yet naive way, "It was Mort falling out of the sky."

"King Julien should really learn to watch where he's punting Mort," observed Kowalski.

"That doesn't make sense," said Skipper, "King Julien's kicking range is a lot greater than this. Sad-Eyes normally lands somewhere near the zoo perimeter fence."

"Must save the royal feets," muttered Mort.

"Save the royal feet from what?" asked Skipper as he shook Mort, "_From what_?"

"Skipper," advised Kowlaski, "He's out cold. It will be a while before he can respond."

"We better get over to the Lemur pen and quick, men! This might be a real crisis!"

"I'm sure it's just another problem that Julien created himself," muttered Kowalski.

"That's not important," replied Skipper, "Let's go!"

"I need to make sure that Marlene and Mort are alright, Skipper," said Private, "You go ahead. I'll catch up in a minute or two. Maybe a little longer if I have to take either of them to the Vet's office."

As Skipper, Kowalski and Rico belly slid away, the Skipper replied, "Fine, but no dilly-dallying. Get to the Lemur Habitat ASAP, Private."

"Understood," replied Private.


	8. Chapter 8

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 8

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Skipper, Kowalski and Rico encountered the Emperor and Empress as the later two were leaving the Lemur Exhibit.

"You!" said the Skipper as he pointed at the Emperor, "Did you kick Mort into the next compound!?"

"You!" said the Emperor almost simultaneously, "Are you the chosen champion of the Lemur King!?"

"I'm no stooge of King Julien!" replied Skipper, "He has his own minions!"

"I'm no thug!" replied the Emperor almost simultaneously, "He leaped at me and just ran into my flipper!"

"That's a heck-ova accident, Skipper," said Kowalski.

"I am aware of that, brainyoid," replied the Skipper.

"So, shall you fight for the honor of the Lemur King?" asked the Emperor somewhat accusingly.

"I don't know what problem you might have with King Julien," replied the Skipper, "But I just don't jump at his beck and call."

"Ah," he came back, "Then you don't have a problem with collecting my proper tribute from him?"

"I don't know how things roll where you come from, but this is America. We don't DO tribute."

"Why?" he asked somewhat confused, "I only ask what is my due. It's not like I am demanding tribute from you,.. not that I wouldn't accept such things if they are offered, mind you."

"That's not the point. If there's a problem, then apparently King Julien does not think it's your due."

"King Julien is merely weak and foolish. He doesn't recognize my regal authority. If he understood the situation, he would gladly pay my tribute."

"While that may be true," mused the Skipper, "He has the right within this country not to pay tribute."

"Then you are going to fight for his honor?"

"King Julien is a big boy. He can handle a few problems on his own."

"That is well and good, as I do not enjoy fighting with fellow penguins. We are the superior species, after all. Perhaps you would like to be my guests this evening? I'm certain that the imported Sardines, Tuna and other delights of the sea will fulfill your tasteful fantasies."

"Rooo..." said Rico with drool in the corner of his beak.

"Rico, stop drooling," scolded the Skipper, then turning back to the Emperor, "Well, it would be rude to turn down such a generous offer. Would you mind if I bring two more?"

"Of course, I would not mind at all."

"When should you expect us?"

"Any time after sunset is quite acceptable."

"Very well. We shall come."

The Emperor turned to his Empress and said, "Let us retire to our abode, my sweet. We can deal with the Lemur King tomorrow."

She nodded back as the two walked away.

...

Private secretly dropped off Marlene and Mort at the Nurse's Station. Fortunately, she was far more concerned about sick animals than how they got there. Each was examined, bandaged, and left in a comfy cage to be observed overnight. Once Private was sure that they were going to be alright, he made his way back towards the Lemur Exhibit.

Much to his surprise, Skipper and the others were already on their way back. They seemed rather pleased with themselves, so he wondered how much chaos they caused out of his sight.

"Did I miss anything, Skipper?" asked Private.

"Nah," replied the Skipper, "The Emperor seems to be rather reasonable. More reasonable than King Julien. He's even invited all of us over to his place for a fabulous fish feast this evening."

"What about King Julien? What about WAVE?"

"The first is not invited. The second one is."

"I mean, is King Julien not in trouble for once?"

"Oh, he has problems, but its nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

"And what is Julien's problem?"

"Oh," mused the Skipper, "The Emperor wants tribute from Julien, Emperor to King, and Julien doesn't want to cough it up. The usual."

"Oh, I see," replied Private, "I thought we didn't do tribute here in America."

"Technically, that's right," replied Skipper, "But Julien is really just a King in Madagascar. That's not part of America, you know. So he's not really an American paying tribute. Besides, Julien expects me to save his bacon from every little problem, and I am NOT bending over backwards for him this time."

"That doesn't sound like the Skipper I know," sighed Private.

"I haven't changed," said the Skipper defensively, "I'm just doing something a little differently for once. This would be different if I thought that Julien was in any REAL danger."

"But Mort..."

"Pish-posh, Private. Even the Emperor admits that was an accidental blow. You know how small Sad-Eyes is. Just about anyone with meat on them could toss him at least that far if not farther. Even a wuss like Julien can kick Sad-Eyes to the zoo wall."

"I suppose."

"So don't worry about it. Just bring WAVE with you, and we'll all enjoy an imported fish feast from the generosity of the Emperor and his Empress. Apparently Humans are all too willing to give them all the tribute they can handle. Besides, WAVE has been traveling with this Emperor. If he was a bad penguin, don't you think she would have mentioned it already?"

"Well, no one asked," replied Private.

"Okay, then you can ask her."

"I will."


	9. Chapter 9

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 9

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

So Private made his way back to HQ in order to have a conversation with WAVE: A private conversation. As he expected, she was waiting for him rather patiently.

"How was your patrol?" she asked with a little eagerness.

"Well, other than running into the Emperor," he began somewhat awkwardly, "there was nothing special to report."

"Well, I suppose that's all good," she replied.

"Speaking of the Emperor," continued Private, "There' s something I'd like to ask."

"Well, go ahead."

"Well, is he... I mean to say..."

"Spit it out, Private."

"Is he a bad bird?" asked Private abruptly.

"Bad?" she replied as she mused the answer out loud, "Bad? No, I wouldn't say he's bad. He's just very authoritarian. He really believes in his own power. But he's not mean or cruel. On the other hand, he can be... rough... on those who he feels disrespect him. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it was Skipper who wanted to know. He asked me to ask you. We've all been invited to a party with the Emperor and his Empress."

"Even me?"

"Well, I'm taking you as my guest. Would that be a problem?"

"Oh no," she replied quickly, "If anyone knows how to throw a party, it's the Emperor. I've only been to one of his events before this, but it was something I'll never forget."

"Only one?"

"Yeah," she replied quietly, "I'm not exactly the kind of penguin that attracts his Imperial attention."

"But your smart, beautiful, charming, witty... how could he not see something special in you?"

"Oh," she replied with a blush, "You're just saying that to be polite."

"No," he replied defensively, "I'm totally serious."

"You... really think so?"

"I've never been more serious."

She moved closer to him as she replied, "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me."

"You can't be serious," he answered, "Someone's had to have said something nicer about you than that. You're the most special hen I've ever met."

She leaned closer and nibbled at his neck feathers as she replied, "No, you're the first. I've never met a nicer, more polite and sincere male than you."

He turned his head away as he blushed, leaving more of his neck open to her nibbles as he replied, "I've never felt about a hen like I feel about you now."

"Look past me," she said breathlessly, "Look in the corner and know how I feel about you."

He looked where she asked, and saw that she had completely reassembled his love nest. She had rebuilt it perfectly in every detail.

"My love nest..." he said quietly, "You really..."

"I love it," she replied, "It's the best offering I've ever seen. Please..."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Mate with me!" she begged, "Do it now! I want to have your chic!"

"I've never..."

"Am I not attractive to you?"

"No, you're the prettiest hen I've ever seen."

"Then what is it?"

"What if I don't please you? What if I can't complete the act? What if I can't do it right?"

"You can never disappoint me, Private. Just believe in yourself. Let your feelings shine through into your actions and you'll do great. I promise."

But the moment was shattered when they heard the Skipper say, "So is WAVE coming to the party? Is the Emperor really a bad... GREAT HERRINGS ON A STICK, PRIVATE: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The two of them looked up to see the Skipper climbing down the ladder towards them.

"It's not what it looks like," replied Private panicked.

"Yes it is," she replied, "I'm seducing Private into mating with me, because I've accepted his mating nest. _I rebuilt it as a sign that I've taken his offering above all others_. _I WANT TO HAVE PRIVATE'S CHIC_. _I want to have a life in this zoo with Private_ _FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE_!"

"Well, I never thought Private would be aggressive with a hen, so it all makes sense."

"No he wouldn't," replied WAVE, "He's too much of a gentlepenguin, and that's one of the big reasons I love him so much. He'll be the best father and husband I could ever have wished for. He's much more than I could have ever deserved."

"You aren't angry, Skipper?" asked Private.

"No," he said somberly, "I couldn't be happier for you both. I thought that WAVE couldn't have such feelings about any of us. I didn't think she could stomach the possibility of just living in one place instead of moving all over the world. Private, as much as it pains me to say, I was afraid that she would take one of my men like you, charm him with her feminine wiles, and take him away from me to a life of world adventure. It may have been wrong, but I was afraid she would take one of you away from me, and take apart our little team."

"I could never do that," replied WAVE, "My respect for your command is too great. I just couldn't live with myself if I did something so wrong to you and your men."

"But could you save the mating part until after the party?" asked Skipper, "I promise I'll make sure you two have all the time alone that you need."

"Very well," replied WAVE, "I'm sure I can hold myself back for that long."

"Is that okay with you, too, Private?"

"Sure Skipper. We just found out how we really feel about each other just now anyways." He slowly pushed WAVE back from him, and she didn't resist. "I can't answer you right this minute," he replied honestly, "It's so sudden. As soon as we're back from the party by ourselves, I promise I'll give you my answer. I want you to know that I'm really going to think about what you said and how you feel about me."

"I know," she replied, "and I couldn't ask you for anything more than that."

"So you two get ready," replied the Skipper, "We're leaving for the Emperor's party soon. By the way, what did she say about him?"

"He's not bad," he replied, "just stern."

"Yeah," replied Skipper, "My gut and I thought as much. We're never wrong about such things... or at least my gut isn't."

"I'll wait for you topside," said the Skipper quietly, "in case you need to say something more... to each other..."

The Private and WAVE nodded. Skipper ascended the ladder and vanished up top.

"I hope I wasn't being too pushy..." she said very quietly.

"No," he replied, "but I never could have been assertive with you... nothing would have ever happened if you didn't take the initiative... and I'm grateful for that."

"Thank you," she replied.


	10. Chapter 10

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 10

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Skipper waited patiently for Private and WAVE to emerge from the lair. Or at least as patiently as Skipper gets. But he didn't have to wait an unreasonable amount of time. Certainly not enough time for the two love birds to mate, at least. But the blush in Private's face told the Skipper that WAVE had managed to sneak in a little more nibbling time on Private's neck feathers. Private wasn't talking, and WAVE was simply smiling, as the two of them emerged from underground.

"Sorry for the delay," said WAVE softly, "I put a tent over Private's love nest. He wanted to dismantle it again, but I wanted to leave it just like it is. The tent seemed to be the best compromise."

Private nodded without his usual chatter.

"I can see both points," replied the Skipper, "and you both did the right thing. Out of sight, out of mind, as it were. It's nice that Private felt about shielding the feelings if not the sensibilities of me, Kowalski, and Rico."

"I guess that's just the way I am, Skipper," replied Private.

"So..." mused Skipper, "We're ready to mobilize?"

"Affirmative," replied WAVE.

"Then let's move out."

" Affirmative," replied Private.

The three of them therefore set off to collect Kowalski and Rico before heading off to the Emperor's little party. WAVE was quite happy to walk next to the still somewhat blushing Private, thus giving the impression that there were in fact a couple. While there was no longer any humans around to witness the pair of Private and WAVE, there were plenty of zoo animals to see the new couple, which was just how WAVE wanted it to be.

When they collected Kowalski and Rico, they seemed not to comment about the apparently new couple at the zoo. But then, they didn't know about the restored love nest of Private or what the Skipper had seen going on between Private and WAVE.

Once the little party was assembled, they made their way to the gathering place of the Emperor Penguin. The sun was just down below the horizon, only leaving the fading glow of the false sunset as well as the scattered night lights to show the way. When the five of them appeared at the party, they realized that they were not the only guests. Several of the other penguins from the traveling exhibit were invited as well.

The temperature within the party had to be raised somewhat (for the other species of penguins), as the Adele and Emperor penguins were used to some of the coldest conditions on planet Earth: The Antarctic Continent. While they didn't sport all of the blubber they would if they actually lived at the South Pole, they still had the super dense feathers and the thick down that they kept underneath it.

As promised, there was a huge collection of fresh fish delicacies available for consumption. There was Antarctic Silverfish, Bald Notothen, Emerald Rock Cod, Maori Cod, Painted Notie, Patagonian Toothfish, as well as Glacial Squid and Hooked Squid. The squid was cut into small pieces no doubt by human hands and placed on small blocks of sticky rice like sushi. There was also a soup made of Antarctic Krill. In addition to the standard fare of the Antarctic Ocean, there was other fish available as well from other regions of the world: Halibut, Several varieties of Salmon (Chinook, Chum, Coho, Pink, Sockeye and Steelhead) and Tuna (bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, bonito, albacore and a few rarer others), and Yellowtail. It was all prepared and presented in grand style with much visual appeal.

While Skipper and the boys were treated as guests of the Emperor, they were still treated as being lower on the totem pole of status than they Royal Penguins. As Skipper had noted before, there was several males in the group, but apparently no hens at the time. Thus the males acted more like bachelors than family penguins, including a few flirting attempts with WAVE that drew the hairy eyeball from Private (and oddly enough, Skipper as well), but in the long run, nothing came of it.

The Gentoo Penguins were there: All three males and the hen. The males seemed to be more distracted with attracting the attention of the hen then they were mingling at the party. They also seemed to be in a competition to see who could present the most delicious looking fish to woo her attention. Skipper watched the Gentoo with moderate amusement, glad that most of his men were not acting in such a 'shocking and shameful' fashion.

The Chinstrap Penguins were invited, and made a bit of a show about how the two males were keeping themselves apart from pair of the hens. While the males went about commenting about every other hen besides the Empress (as the Emperor had no tolerance for such behavior towards his mate), the hens were content to gossip with the other hens about all of the other male penguins present.

The Humboldt Penguins were noted by their absence, as both of them were stuck nesting and keeping their egg warm. While they weren't out in the wild, the habitat was cold enough that keeping the egg nice and warm was quite a legitimate concern. While the Emperor and Royal Penguins seemed to be offended by the Humboldts not appearing, the other penguins seemed to be more understanding about their situation.

To the Skipper and his men, there was another conspicuous absence from the party: King Julien. He was used to their party attitude (at least from Julien), the silly if not stupid commentary from little Mort, and the snide side comments from Maurice. Almost everyone else had little or no knowledge that the "Lemur King" even existed within the bounds of the zoo.

To Skipper's surprise, the male Chinstrap Penguins invited Marlene to come as their guest. WAVE deduced that this was some sort of show for the Chinstrap hens, as a show that they might be playing "hard to get". However, the plan apparently backfired on them, as the Chinstrap hens were more than happy to treat the Asian Short-clawed Otter as just another female to gossip with.

But Marlene seemed to act differently when she noted Private and WAVE spending most of their time within flipper's reach of each other. This prompted her to come over holding her salmon fillet that she had been nursing along for the last hour or so, and strike up a conversation with the two of them.

"Hello, Private," said Marlene happily, "So who's your new friend?"

"Oh," said Private, "This is WAVE from the traveling penguin show."

"Is she your mate?" asked Marlene with characteristic bluntness.

"Well... She and I... uh... that is to say..."

"Oh yes," said WAVE quickly, "I want to spend the rest of my life in the Central Park Zoo here with my true love: Private."

"Aw, how sweet," mused Marlene as Private blushed badly, "Will they let you out of the show to stay here with us?"

"Oh," she answered, "I'm sure that once the humans are aware of the situation, they'll simply have to leave me behind with Private. Even they know that Adele mate for life, and have great difficulty getting another mate once their minds are made up."

Marlene paused to munch her salmon before continuing, "Well, I guess we'll be neighbors then. I guess the lair will... mmMMpphhHH..." Private cut her off with a flipper over the mouth with speed that surprised even WAVE.

"Ixnay onay airlay," said Private cryptically.

"Mmm mm mmpphh uumm," muttered Marlene with Private's flipper over her mouth.

"Yes," replied Private in a low voice, "There are penguins here who don't know about... our special arrangement... and they don't need to know. WAVE is in on the operations, but _ONLY_ her. The other penguins are leaving with the show, so the less they know, the better for all of us."

"Muumm mmm mphhh oommm."

"Well, she did accept my love nest offering... wait, you know about that?"

"You understand what's she's saying with her mouth covered?" asked WAVE curiously.

"Oh, just a couple of years of practice," said Private even more quietly, leaving WAVE to raise one of her eyebrows. "It's not what you think," he said defensively, "We just have practice keeping Marlene from speaking things aloud that she shouldn't."

"Murph mummm mmm mummm?"

"What?" asked Private, "That's not... I couldn't... I'd never..."

"Never what?" asked WAVE.

"Oh, nothing important. Marlene has a bit... of an imagination... _really, it's not important_..." He said the last part as if he hoped that would be the last word on the subject.

Marlene seemed to fall quiet a moment, and WAVE seemed to be willing to let the subject pass. But the look that Marlene and WAVE exchanged was lost on Private. It was then that Private saw fit to take his flipper from Marlene's mouth.

"The Emperor sure knows how to throw a party," said Marlene after eating another bite, "I can't remember the last time I ate this well. Other than the cold, I'm having a wonderful time. I just have trouble wondering why those Chinstrap males bothered to invite me."

"Oh," mused WAVE, "They think they're impressing the Chinstrap hens by bringing a female guest and playing hard to get. It's the belief that jealousy can motivate a hen to act. I guess they brought you because they are no other unclaimed hens that they could have brought. Hopefully, their intentions have not... uh... put you off."

"Oh, it all makes sense now. Really, it doesn't bother me. The fine food alone more than makes up for it. It is also nice to meet someone who loves someone as sweet, sincere, and attentive as Private."

Private couldn't help but blush more than he already was.

"I know," replied WAVE, "and I'm so glad it was me who got to know him so. I so look forward to living here and getting to know you all better."

"Me too," agreed Marlene, "Me too."

"Now it's just a simple matter of getting out handlers to see me and Private together. They might not understand the significance of Private's stuffed animal nest, so I think I'll have to help him make a more normal looking nest of shiny rocks lined with his own plumage."

"Stuffed ani... mmmpphh!" Private's flipper snapped over her mouth again.

"It's another... secret operation... totally hush-hush," he whispered in Marlene's ear. She nodded in spite of the flipper over her mouth, prompting Private to release her again.

"Don't you get tired of that?" asked WAVE to Marlene.

"I'm used to it."

"I hope that's not what's..."

"Oh no," interrupted Private, "I know you're much more discrete than that."

"Oh, that's nice to say."

"It's true."

Then they heard the Emperor's voice above the crowd. "Then tomorrow shall be the day," said the Emperor to the Skipper, "Either the Lemur King shall tribute to me properly, or he shall learn the meaning of humility. I'm glad that you have not taken the side of that weakling fool."

"As long as your lessons in humility aren't overboard, I have no problem with it," replied Skipper.

"Then I believe we are in agreement, my friend."

"Poor Julien," said Private quietly, "I hope Skipper isn't serious about letting the Emperor... do things to him... I just don't like beatings... I'm not crazy about giving them or taking them..."

"I promise that if Skipper doesn't keep the Emperor in line, _**I will**_. I won't stand idly by while King Julien gets badly worked over, or either of his 'minions'."

"You mean Mort and Maurice?"

"Yes, if that is their names."

"It is."


	11. Chapter 11

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 11

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Skipper led the troops home after the Emperor's little party ended. He had managed to gather up Kowalski, Rico, Private, and WAVE... especially Private and WAVE. Everyone was stuffed to the gills with fish and other exotic treats, and no one left unsatisfied. WAVE had made a show of being near Private all evening, letting everyone know her intentions to stay at the zoo with him and have his chicks. She wanted to be sure that if the animals knew, that would somehow make it more obvious to the humans in charge of their care.

WAVE also felt that she had managed to bond with Marlene, the sea otter, in the course of the evening as well. She also seemed to have an affection for Private. He was generally kindhearted to everyone there at the zoo, and they in turn tended to return the feelings in one way or another. It was just that some animals were more open about it, and others not so much.

But Skipper did have a problem. Earlier, he had interrupted WAVE and Private's somewhat intimate moment together. She was definitely trying to put the moves on him. He had promised the two of them that they would be allowed some private time together once the party was over. Something that proved a problem because of the possible lack of cooperation from Kowalski and Rico.

So when Kowalski asked, "What's with the tent, Skipper?", he had already worked out his response to that question in advance.

"That's WAVE's tent," he said smoothly, "It was necessary to remove the temptation of letting Private accidentally sleep mate with her while she's here."

"Hmm," he replied, "Well, that is much simpler than the electrostatic force cage generator I was working on."

"Simple is good," answered the Skipper, "You might want to try it some time."

"But what good is a solution if it doesn't push the cutting edge of technology?"

"I'd rather have something that works."

"Touche, Skipper."

"Well," said the Skipper orderly, "It's been a long day. Time to hit the sacks. I'm sure we all need to be in our best shapes tomorrow to make sure the Emperor doesn't go too far out of line with our little lemur pack. In spite of our objections, he is still a member of this zoo and will be long after the other penguins in the show move on to their next stop."

"I could still install the..."

"_Not necessary, Brainiod_," assured the Skipper, "_No one's getting out of line while I'm on the job. I'm sure my gut will let me know if anything fishy is going on tonight_."

"As you wish," agreed Kowalski.

WAVE managed to slip a wink in the direction of Private before she slipped into the tent that covered the reconstructed love nest of Private. Skipper noticed even more than Private, but neither Kowalski nor Rico gave any indication that they had noticed. He realized he may well not get much sleep in, and if those two weren't discreet enough, no one else would either.

His suspicions were confirmed once Kowalski and Rico had fallen asleep. Private managed to slip out of his bunk unnoticed by them, and then made his way into the tent. Skipper pretended to be asleep, as he was good at that sort of thing.

...

WAVE was waiting for Private in the tent.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come," she said softly.

"Why would you ever think that?" he asked back quietly.

"I was afraid I wasn't good enough for you," she answered, "That you weren't really going to be interested in me."

"I'm glad to tell you that you could not be more wrong. I do believe that... No, I know that... _I love you_. I couldn't be more proud that you selected me to be your mate. Your life companion. That you would give up something as wonderful as traveling around the world to live in this little zoo with someone as plain as me."

"You'll never be plain to me, Private."

"I was afraid that I wasn't special enough for someone as skilled and experienced as you."

"I was afraid that I wasn't special enough for someone as closely bonded to your fellow soldiers as you. The Skipper thinks the world of you, you know. Nothing is closer than the bonds of comrades in arms."

"But you aren't just a hen to me. You're one of my comrades in arms now too."

WAVE lay down on her belly in Private's ever so soft love nest, facing away from Private. She spread her flippers wide as she lifted her tail. "You're the kindest penguin I've ever met in my life," she sighed, "and I'm ready. Take me now and make me yours. This is what I want more than anything."

"But..."

"I promise you'll do well. Let your feelings guide you. Just go with your instincts and you won't go wrong. _Please don't make me wait_."

"Alright, for you."

He moved in behind WAVE and prepared to mount her for the first time.

...

Skipper opened one eye slightly to glance at the tent. They were doing their best to keep the noise down, but he knew what those two love birds were doing in there. If Kowalski or Rico noticed anything unusual, they were pretending to be asleep as well.

A short while later, Private slipped back out of the tent, and back up into his cot. While Skipper could not clearly see Private's face in the dark, he was fairly certain by his demeanor and general attitude that he had... performed well. With that little matter out of the way, Skipper felt free to actually fall asleep.

The little matter between King Julien and the Emperor was bothering him more than he would have liked to admit to anyone... even himself.


	12. Chapter 12

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 12

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

By the next morning, however, it was no longer possible for anyone, even Skipper, to conceal the blooming love between WAVE and Private. She openly came to him in the morning aglow from the night before, and she blatantly nibbled at his neck in spite of his blush and embarrassment. Rico and Kowalski seemed to concede the point that Private had won the unannounced mating contest.

They acted differently on the surface too. She helped Private make a collection of shiny stones, and then pretended to be a bystander when he plucked his under-feathers to line the nest. The human visitors flocked in droves to see the two Adeles courting and wooing antics. Once the visitors were all abuzz about the courting penguins, it didn't take long for the show caretakers to take notice as well.

Skipper, Rico and Kowalski seemed to make the most of the show Private was making as he painfully plucked his own under-feathers. Fortunately, they kept it all out of earshot from the zoo visitors.

When the second mating nest was presentable, she secretly coached Private on how he should call out to her, and what to do when she acted interested in him. It was quite the show to the human visitors, with all manner of cameras and other recording devices. Kowalski figured it would be immortalized on RubeTube until the end of time, or the end of the internet, which ever came first. However, no amount of begging or acting would get Private to mount her again with such a large audience around. He figured that he would perish from embarrassment first.

Penguins from the other pens migrated to the closest edge of their pens to watch the spectacle as well. It seemed that everyone but the Emperor and Empress Penguins found the whole affair amusing if not a distraction from the own mating concerns. Of course, they were all critics, but it was more like a case of ballroom dancers trying to judge the dancing in a ballet. So all of their criticism had to be taken with a grain of salt to say the very least.

One of the onlookers was Marlene. Skipper couldn't decide what would be harder: Hiding the little scene from her, or trying to answer the thousand or so questions she would be sure to have later. He decided the most amusing outcome would to let Private try to explain the whole thing to her on his own, except that he was also pretty sure he couldn't stop WAVE from helping him out.

In spite of his appearances to the contrary, Skipper could sense that Julien and the boys were also peaking over their compound wall to see Private and WAVE's little performance. He didn't seem to have any worries about his upcoming beating from the Emperor unless he decided to concede his ego and come up with a tribute to the larger and stronger Emperor Penguin.

The gorillas and monkeys were also watching more out of boredom than anything else. He couldn't judge the hand signs of Phil, although he was pretty sure that Mason told him that flinging poo at that time would not be considered acceptable. Bada and Bing had no obvious comments.

And they could see the penguin handlers taking note of the situation as well.

The hours passed by as the show went on. Neither Private nor WAVE broke their interaction to eat. They were in fact too interested in each other to think about eating. It was a prelude to the way they would have acted in the wild, where one spent days incubating the eggs, neither eating nor sleeping, while they waited for their mate to return from feeding out in the ocean. Then they could switch places so the well fed one could incubate while the mate went out to feed.

So they called Alice into her office to discuss the situation. As it was a bureaucratic confluence, it was pretty sure to take more than one day. But like most bureaucracies, the outcome was pretty much predictable if not inevitable.

While Adele were rare, they could be replaced. On the other hand, they mate for life, and once mated, will never truly separate again even should one die. They have been known to literally die from loneliness. And they couldn't be that heartless to either one. Either they'd have to leave WAVE or take Private with them, and the Central Park Zoo Management would certainly argue that replacing Private would be a much larger burden on them then it would for the Penguin Show to find a replacement for WAVE.

The meeting ended about an hour after the zoo closed for the day with no major announcements or anything Skipper and the boys could find out by breaking into Alice's office afterwords.

And no one commented when Private, still blushing, slipped into WAVE's tent that evening to spend the night with her alone. It was an experience that he wouldn't talk about even with the boys, but then WAVE wasn't talking about it either. She certainly seemed satisfied with his performance, even though she was also most likely the one to have told him what to do in the first place.

And Skipper was quite happy that two penguins who didn't think they were worthy of each other were so happy to be together, each now knowing that they were worthy of their future mate.

The only part to remain was the part that humans were never meant to see: The Adele wedding.


	13. Chapter 13

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 13

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations which will occur later on.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

The Adele wedding was being planned even as it was announced by the Zoo Staff that WAVE was going to become a permanent addition to the penguin exhibit. A surface shelter was constructed so that Private and WAVE could be alone with their nest and eggs... well, unless you counted the 'hidden' cameras set in various places. However, Kowalski modified the cameras to show prerecorded loops at various times so that no one could really see what was going on, as humans were not supposed to come intruding on the happy nest willy-nilly.

WAVE had to work hard to convince Private that the humans had to see their mating attempts to be sure that they were in fact a couple and should never be separated from each other. So he awkwardly let Kowlaski record one of their mating attempts just so it could be cut into the loops the humans would be allowed to see. No one figured they were smart enough or interested enough to actually pay attention and notice the mating attempts were all exactly the same.

So to keep unit cohesion, Skipper authorized the construction of a new (hidden) passage from their surface nest down to the lair. In fact, it was right under the nest itself, but could be easily slid aside without any disturbance to the nest or the egg sitter in question.

The wedding was planned for the night when the zoo was closed and almost everyone human had gone home. All the zoo animals were in on the shindig in some way or another, either as guests or planners. The chimps were not invited to plan because no one thought that flinging poo was appropriate at any time or place within the wedding.

But WAVE and Private were happy to spend time in their 'nest'. Once Private got past his awkward phase, he was able to mate with WAVE a good three times a day (even though he had to do it with her doing push-ups at the time. Private was always good as a 'dead weight'). Both hoped that their efforts would result in the conception of an egg. Even if it worked, it would take a week or so before WAVE would even know if she was with egg, so the mating would continue for a good week or so after the successful conception of the egg.

That mainly left Skipper, Rico and Kowalski to plan the wedding, so they turned to the only female in the whole zoo that they would even ask about such matters: Marlene. While not versed in Penguin rituals, she certainly had her own ideas on how to set up a wedding. It was fortunate that otters and penguins both had an appreciation for fish, so it didn't seem to bad to let Marlene set the menu for the reception afterwords.

So it fell to Skipper and the boys to deliver the invitations to the wedding.

When he came to deliver Julien's invitation, however, it seemed that things had come to a head between himself and the Emperor Penguin. With the Empress sitting on Mort, it seemed that the only thing between the Emperor and Julien was Maurice, who didn't seem to be happy to be in such a position.

"I must protect da royal feeeeeetsss," said Mort helplessly.

"Can't we talk this over?" asked Maurice.

"If the Lemur King wishes to end this foolishness and give me proper tribute, there shall be no more problems. If not, there shall be great trouble for him and all of his vassals," swore the Emperor.

"Julien the Lemur King owes tribute to no one!" protested Julien, "As none is the mighty and the greatly as am I! Maurice, I commanding you to beat up this Emperor... poser."

"How dare you speak to me with such disrespect, _lower animal_!"

"Maurice, begins with the beatings now!"

"But you majesty," protested Maurice before he got smacked in the head with one of the Emperor's great flippers, "OW!"

"Pardon the interruption," said Skipper, "but I would like to give out these invites to the wedding of Private and WAVE while you're all able to accept."

Julien, being easily distracted, clapped his hands and said, "Oh, I would surely not to be wanting to miss out on such of an opportunity of something to being doing."

So Skipper handed Julien, Maurice and Mort their invitations. He then turned to the Emperor and Empress Penguins.

"Well," he said, "WAVE wanted me to invite you and your entourage to come to her wedding as a personal favor to her."

"I see," he replied, "I suppose we can certainly clear our calendar for that day. Can't we, my sweet?"

"Certainly dear," she answered, "For a good friend like WAVE, we could hardly miss out on her most important day, or the chance to properly say goodbye to her."

"Say goodbye?"

"Oh yes. WAVE is staying here with that Private chap. They're a couple now. Didn't I mention it earlier, my sweet?"

"I must have been thinking of something else at the time."

"Of course."

He turned back to the Skipper, and said, "We would most certainly wish to honor WAVE at her most important day with our regal presence. Please inform her of this."

"Sure..." he replied. He gave them invitations, that they looked at oddly.

"Honey," he said, "be sure these are presented to the royal attendants until it is time for the wedding."

"Of course, sweetie," she replied as he handed his invitation over to her.

Judging by the way he handed it off without looking at it, Skipper began to wonder if he even could really read.

It also seemed to diffuse the situation, as neither side seemed to remember the tribute dispute that was about to boil over into violence in the first place.

...

With the confrontation between the Emperor Penguin and King Julien put off for a time, considerations advanced to the upcoming wedding day. Things we a tad rushed because they wanted to have the ceremony before the Penguin Exhibit moved on. WAVE wanted a chance to say goodbye to the other Penguins of the exhibit before they moved on to another zoo.

In a matter of days, it was all set up. Everyone was invited, even a couple of animals from outside the zoo boundaries. Of course, Doctor Blowhole, Hans the Puffin, King Rat, the Red Squirrel, and the like were not invited and no one hoped they would show up. Not that Skipper wasn't the kind of Penguin to make contingency plans just in case they did.

Private and WAVE were more concerned about a contingency plan in case there would be trouble between the Emperor and Julien, as well as their own wedding plans overall.

So the days slowly passed as the blessed event approached, and they day before, WAVE and Private made an announcement.

"I'm with egg!" announced the proud WAVE and the blushing Private, "I can feel it!"

"Well..." said Skipper, "I... knew you had it in you, Private... somewhere... under those stuffed unicorns..."

"Thank you, Skipper," he replied, "I think..."

"Take compliments where you can get them," advised WAVE.

"Yes," added Skipper, "Compliment indeed. You couldn't have done better than WAVE here."

"The best penguin won," agreed Kowalski.

WAVE made Private blush more by nibbling at his neck feathers.

"Isn't that a little... too public?" asked Skipper.

WAVE said nothing, and Private was too shy to say anything, so Skipper and the boys decided that there were other... more interesting things... to stare at while WAVE nibbled.

"I think Skipper should handle the announcement about the egg," suggested Private.

"You're right," said WAVE at last.

Skipper looked back when WAVE was done and said, "Sure, it's the least I can do for a happy couple like you."

"This will be the happiest day in my life," sighed WAVE.

"I think so too," said Private.


	14. Chapter 14

Penguins of Madagascar:

King Versus Emperor

Part 14

by Neoraichu

This story is rated 'M' for Mature Situations.

_**WARNING: This is a strange tale, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**_.

...

Skipper spread word about the zoo in regards to WAVE's egg while everyone anticipated the day of the secret Adelie wedding between her and Private. With other matters to attend to, the issue of giving tribute to the Emperor Penguin from King Julien seemed to fade into insignificance. Skipper was almost disappointed that Julien was most likely not going to get it from the Emperor's flipper. Not that he wanted to see Julien seriously injured, but perhaps roughed up just a little bit and perhaps finally learning just a little bit of humility.

Now that WAVE was a zoo regular and with egg to boot, she was scheduled for regular visits to the office of the Zoo Vet. Adelie were relatively rare, and any opportunity to breed one was taken rather seriously by the Zoo Staff, even Alice. However, WAVE was not the kind of hen to let a little thing like an egg keep her from her morning workout, where she still continued to (unintentionally) show up the boys with her physical prowess, much to the chagrin of the boys. This, of course, drove the Skipper to push his men harder in an attempt to at least get them on par with WAVE.

After a seeming eternity, the wedding weekend arrived. Both WAVE and Private were excited that their union was to become official. The two Penguins who originally thought they were unworthy of the others affections would soon be together for the rest of their lives. They could not have been happier at the prospect.

WAVE also became fast friends with Marlene, and most of the other Zoo animals to a lesser extent. Even King Julien was impressed with the level of décor and respect that she showed him, and while everyone (except Mort) wondered if Julien was capable of feeling the true calling of friendship, he was quite willing to get along with her.

...

The wedding gathering was quite the sight to behold. The Penguins (who weren't in the ceremony) and the Zoo animals in attendance formed the group seated on one side as the 'family and friends' of Private, and the exhibit Penguins (including the Emperor and Empress) formed the other side as the 'family and friends' of WAVE. There was 4 Penguin hens from the exhibit as bridesmaids, and Rico and Kowalski acted as groomsmen. Skipper had to perform the ceremony as the highest 'ranking' Adelie present, and of course, Private was the groom. Apparently, the celebration and reception at the end of the ceremony would be a bit awkward because of the imbalance between bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Of course, there was no ring, as Penguins lacked hands let alone fingers, but there was a wedding collar that was worn by both as a symbol of their intention to remain together forever. It was thin enough to be covered by their neck feathers so that no human would have to be the wiser about it. It seemed that before anyone knew it, Private and WAVE stood before the Skipper as he recited the vows to them.

"Do you, Private, take this pretty hen, WAVE, as your life mate, to cherish and respect, and any egg that she should bear, as your lawfully wedded wife and mother of your family?"

"I do," said Private.

"And do you, WAVE, take this unicorn hugging... uh, specimen of Penguin manliness, Private, as your life mate, to respect and obey, and allow him to sit on any egg that you should bear for him, as your lawfully wedded husband and father of your family?"

"I do," said WAVE.

"Then by the ancient laws and ways of the Adelie, I pronounce you mated for life. You may now nibble each others neck feathers as a sign of eternal devotion."

Actually, WAVE did all the nibbling. Private was still too shy to do such things in public.

"Now place the mating collars on each other."

First, Private collared WAVE, and then she returned the favor.

"Now let us retire to the reception, shall we?"

"Certainly," replied Private.

WAVE nodded.

Skipper leaned over to Kowalski, and whispered, "Is the contingency plan in place?"

"Of course," replied the brainiod penguin.

...

So once everyone was seated at the reception, Skipper approached the Emperor with a gift wrapped box and a slightly crooked grin on his beak.

"What is this?" asked the Emperor.

"King Julien XIII felt it would..." he replied, "be more appropriate if the tribute was delivered to you by a member of a superior species."

"I would normally be inclined to call him a coward for not giving it to me himself, but as you phrased it so delicately, I am inclined to be more generous."

He handed the box to the Emperor, who handed it to the Empress, who handed it to an unnamed attendant, who made it disappear along with himself.

"I would be grateful if your grace doesn't make an open display of this," added the Skipper, "In order to preserve his dignity. I'm sure you know the importance of saving one's face, right?"

"You shall take my words of gratitude to him in my stead?"

"Of course."

"Very well," he mused, "These terms are acceptable to me."

'_The things I do for Julien that he doesn't even know or care about_,' thought Skipper privately.

So dinner went without incident, and then it was time for Private and WAVE to dance their first dance of the evening together. After that, they split up, with WAVE taking a turn with the Emperor and Private taking a turn with the Empress. Considering how much taller the Emperor Penguins were over the Adelies, it made for an awkward looking pair of couples, especially when Private almost looked like barely molted chic in comparison to the Empress.

'_My inner voice is telling me things are going __**too**__ well_,' thought Skipper privately. He slipped over to Kowalski and asked, "Any sign of enemies?"

"Other than our frenemy, King Julien the XIIIth, I'd say no."

"Well keep an eye peeled for trouble just in case," he ordered the brainiod Penguin.

"Affirmative," he answered.

He then slipped over to Rico and asked the same. The answer made sense to the Skipper, but not much of anyone else. It was good, considering Skipper didn't want to be overheard by the guests.

"Boom-boom?" asked Rico.

"This is a wedding, soldier," he replied sternly, "No boom-boom."

"Aw..."

"Just save it for Private's birthday."

"Wee!"

"I figured as much. Now _mingle_ or I'll _mangle_."

Rico grumbled something. Skipper noticed that King Julien was standing behind the Emperor as he waited his turn to take a dance with WAVE.

'_I suppose if something's going to happen, it's going to be now_.'

As the Emperor backed away from WAVE, he bumped into King Julien. He in turn backed into and bumped into Maurice, who in turn backed into and bumped Rico, who in turn regurgitated a wrench into Bada, who in turn turned and accidentally backhanded Mason, who then bumped into Marlene, who was turned around and stumbled, giving a headbutt to King Julien. This caused Julien to be knocked sideways into the table, causing the large punch bowel to fall on top of him as the table leg collapsed. And the Emperor was oblivious to the whole turn of events, expect for fact he was now standing in a rapidly expanding pool of punch. The only reason he noticed that much was for the fact he was looking down when he bowed to WAVE. She in turn had bowed back to him.

'_Not what I expected, but..._'

Maurice and Mort moved into to help the King, who was completely covered by the punch bowl on top of him, although the part of his tail showing from underneath was probably sore by now.

'_That'll leave a mark_.'

The Emperor turned and looked out, asking, "So who wishes to take the flipper of WAVE next?"

Much to his surprise, WAVE lunged into the crowd, took the Skipper's flipper, and dragged him back onto the dance floor before he had a chance to complain, announcing, "It's the Skipper's turn now."

"Now now, sailor," he said, "I'm sure there's..."

"No," she replied firmly, "I've been saving this dance for you."

He glanced around looking for someone who might object, but saw no one. Even Private seemed to approve his mate's choice for her next dance partner. She leaned close while waiting for the next song and whispered, "I'm counting on you to keep my Private safe when I can't be there myself."

"I always have the best interests of my men at heart."

"Yes," she replied, "but now _he's my man_, too." WAVE looked the Skipper in the eyes and added, "_Woe be unto any force on Earth that hurts __my Private__, for my __**wrath shall be terrible to behold**_."

Skipper gulped and replied, "Understood, sailor."

"Now," she replied happily as the music began, "Let's dance, shall we?"

He was quite happy to let WAVE take the lead.

~fin~


End file.
